CENTRE WELLINGTON – Township staff are predicting that it will take at least two years to get swimming programs back to pre-pandemic levels.
Council heard at its July 18 meeting that staff are finding it difficult to find trained lifeguards to oversee the pool at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex and has had to reduce the number of lessons and programs it offers.
Manager of recreation Bruce Parkin told council that staff at the pool have gone from 41 pre-pandemic to just 29 now, and that 50 to 60 lifeguards is ideal.
But during the pandemic when the pool was closed, staff were laid off. And because lessons weren’t offered, the group of young swimmers training to become lifeguards has also dried up.
It is generally around age 13 when a young swimmer might decide to work on attaining lifeguard certification and generally the lifeguards who work in Centre Wellington are teenagers who remain for two or three years and then move on to post-secondary education or full-time jobs.
“It can take two to three years of training,” Parkin said, adding that because of COVID-19 “two years of training opportunity was lost.”
Working with the staff they have means capacity of programs has been reduced, some swimming lessons have been cancelled, and availability of the water slide and whirlpool during public swims have also been reduced.
Parkin said staff are working on a new recruitment strategy to attract aquatic staff and was seeking approval from council to proceed.
The proposal includes:
- a revised pay scale for aquatic staff, effective September this year;
- a subsidy program to reimburse training costs, effective January 2023; and
- a staff culture strategy to be implemented January 2023.
The annual cost for the proposed recruitment and retention strategy is $43,600. Staff propose increasing the cost of lessons and aquatic programs gradually over three years to offset some of the extra expense.
Managing director of community services Pat Newson said they would like to partner with Centre Wellington District High School to promote the program and hopefully find a few takers.
But even with all this, “it will take two years to close the gap,” she said.
Any fee increases would be discussed separately when the next council tucks into the 2023 budget.
“I would prefer not to increase the cost to participants,” said councillor Ian MacRae.
Council approved the motion.
